Obedience: Milgram's Study

Stanley Milgram (1963) conducted one of the most famous and controversial experiments in the history of psychology. His study investigated the extent to which ordinary people would obey an authority figure, even when the orders involved causing harm to another person.

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Background

Milgram was inspired by the events of the Holocaust during World War II, in which millions of people were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime. Many of those responsible claimed they were "just following orders." Milgram wanted to test whether ordinary people could be made to obey orders to harm others.

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Milgram's Study (1963)

Aim

To investigate how far ordinary people would go in obeying an authority figure who instructed them to administer electric shocks to another person.

Method